In a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system there may be one or more, highly sensitive receiver coils, such as made up of a plurality of receiving coil elements. As is known in the art, these coil elements are generally used to receive MR response signals for a region of a subject undergoing a diagnostics MR procedure to create an MR image of that region. Each of these receiver coils may be connected to associated circuitry, such as may provide signal amplification, frequency conversion, filtering, digitization, modulation, etc. Presently there may be eight, sixteen, or 32 receiver coil elements in a typical MRI coil. It is noted, however, that this number may eventually increase to a larger number, (e.g., 64, 96, 128 coils, or more) as newer MRI systems with ever-increasing imaging resolution and speed are introduced in the market place. Thus, challenges remain in being able to compactly package such coils and associated electronics.
Because subsystems that may be part of the MRI system (such as a gradient coil system for generating a magnetic gradient field) may involve relatively large electrical currents (in the order of some hundreds of A) and high voltages (ranging from several hundreds of V to kV) with concomitant generation of radio frequency (RF) noise, and also because the amplitude of the signals detected by the receiver coils tend to be relatively weak and image quality is very dependent on electrical noise, challenges have been presented in order to appropriately shield such coil circuitry from external EMI fields. Similarly, challenges have been presented to counteract the emergence of EMI fields that can be generated by this circuitry. Furthermore, the MRI system may be subject to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements as may be imposed by regulatory agencies.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an MRI system and techniques that avoid or substantially reduce the above-described difficulties. More particularly, it is desirable to provide a compact and cost-effective packaging for the receiver coils and associated circuitry, in an environment substantially immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI) to achieve superior signal fidelity and ultimately produce an image virtually free of EMI-induced artifacts.